Skip to main content
Log in

An assessment of seepage into the L-31N Canal along Northeast Everglades National Park, Florida, USA

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The hydrologic restoration of the Everglades ecosystem has been ongoing since 2000. One of the key planned projects is the control and management of seepage emanating from Northeast Everglades National Park and flowing to the L-31 North Canal that is part of the South Dade Conveyance System. In order to design the most efficient seepage management system, it is important to understand the overall trends in daily seepage from the Park into the canal system. Equally important is an assessment of the spatial distribution of seepage along the canal system. This research article provides an assessment of mean daily net seepage into the L-31 North Canal and one segment of the L-30 Canal from mid-1991 to end of 2010 using a water budget approach. Then the spatial distribution of seepage is determined by developing piece-meal water budgets from the northern part of the system to the southern terminus of L-31 North Canal at the S-331 water control structure. The overall interpretation of the water budget data is aided by a review of water level differences throughout the system as well as analysis of past seepage studies. Lastly, recommendations are provided that would permit continued monitoring of the water budget and better spatial assessment of water level data to enable more meaningful ecological restoration assessment to be realized. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy issues and suggestions for adaptive assessment improvement of the project going forward.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Armentano TV, Sah JP, Ross MS, Jones MS, Jones DT, Cooley HC, Smith CS (2006) Rapid responses of vegetation to hydrological changes in Taylor Slough Everglades National Park, Florida, USA. Hydrobiol 569:293–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fish JE, Stewart M (1990) Hydrology of the surficial aquifer system, Dade County, Florida. US Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 90–4108

  • German ER (2000) Regional Evaluation of Evapotranspiration in the Everglades: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 00-4217, p 48

  • Godfrey MC, Catton T (2012) River of interests: water management in South Florida and the Everglades, 1948–2010. Government Printing Office, US 339 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Grayson JE, Chapman MG, Underwood AJ (1999) The assessment of restoration of habitat in urban wetlands. Landsc Urb Plan 43(4):227–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammer O, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: Paleontological Statistics Software Package for Education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4(1):9–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Harmel RD, Cooper RJ, Slade RM, Haney RL, Arnold JG (2006) Cumulative uncertainty in measured streamflow and water quality data for small watersheds. Trans ASABE 49(3):689–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopfensperger KN, Engelhardt AM, Seagle SW (2006) The use of case studies in establishing feasibility for wetland restoration. Res. Ecol 14(4):578–586. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100X.2006.00169.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jia H, Ma H, Wei M (2011) Urban wetland planning: a case study in the Beijing central region. Complex Coupled Hum Nat Syst Ecol Complex 8(2):213–221. doi:10.1016/j.ecocom.2011.03.002

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotun K, Renshaw A (2013) Taylor Slouth Hydrology—50 years of Water Management 1961–2010. Wetl. published online. doi:10.1007/s13157-013-0441-x

  • Lal W (2006) Determination of multiple aquifer parameters using generated water level disturbances. Water Resour Res 42(W03429):1–13. doi:10.1029/2005WR004218

    Google Scholar 

  • Landers J (2006) Urban Wetlands Restoration Begins in New York, New Jersey. Civ Eng 76(1):18–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Light SS, Dineen JW (1994) Water Control in the Everglades: Past, Present, and Future Everglades. In: Davis SM, Ogden JC (eds) The Ecosystem and its restoration. St. Lucie Press, Boca Raton, pp 47–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ (2013) When will ecologists learn engineering and engineers learn ecology? Ecol Eng. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2013.10.002

    Google Scholar 

  • Motz LH, Brown CJ (2007) Analysis of Canal Pumping Test Adjacent to Everglades National Park Using a One-Dimensional Flow Model Considering Storage and Skin Effect in a Finite-Width Sink. Proceedings of the 2007 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress; Tampa, FL; USA; pp 15–19 May 2007, ASCE, 2007

  • National Park Service (2013) Everglades National Park website, http://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm

  • National Research Council (2010) Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Third Biennial Review—2010. The National Academies Press, p. 277, plus appendices

  • National Research Council (2012) Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Fourth Biennial Review—2012. The National Academies Press, p. 195, plus appendices

  • RECOVER (2011) CERP Adaptive Management Integration Guide. Prepared by Restoration Coordination and Verification, c/o U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District, p 82, plus appendices

  • Renken RA, Dixon J, Koehmstedt J, Ishman S, Leitz AC, Marella RL, Telis P, Rogers J, Memberg S (2005) Impact of Anthropogenic Development on Coastal Ground-Water Hydrology in Southeastern Florida, 1900–2000. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1275, p 77

  • Sanon S, Hein T, Douven W, Winkler P (2012) Quantifying ecosystem service trade-offs: The case of an urban floodplain in Vienna, Austria. Environ Manag 111:159–172. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.06.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro SS, Wilk MB (1965) An analysis of variance test for normality (complete samples). Biometrika 52:591–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shisler JK, lannuzzi TJ, Ludwig DF, Bluestein PJ (2008) Ecological Benchmarking in an Urbanized Estuarine River System. Ecol Restor 26(3):235–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simenstad C, Tanner C, Crandell C (2005) Challenges of habitat restoration in a heavily Urbanized Estuary: evaluating the investment. J Coast Res 40(40):6–23 Special Issue No

    Google Scholar 

  • Solecki WD, Long J, Harwell CC, Myers V, Zubrow E, Ankerson T, Deren C, Feanny C, Hamann R, Hornung L, Murphy C, Snyder G (1999) Human-environment Interactions in South Florida’s Everglades Region: systems of ecological degradation and restoration. Urb Ecosyst 3:305–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan PL, Price RM, Schedbauer JL, Saha A, Gaiser EE (2013) The influence of hydrologic restoration on groundwater-surface water interactions in a karst wetland, The Everglades (FL, USA). Wetl published online. doi:10.1007/s13157-013-0379-z

  • United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service (1986) Urban Hydrology for Small Watersheds, Technical Release No. 55, Washington, DC

  • USACE and SFWMD (1999) Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Review Study, Final Integrated Feasibility Report and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, USACE & SFWMD, April 1999, p 500

  • Van Lent T, Johnson R, Fennema R (1993) Water management in Taylor Slough and effects on Florida Bay. South Florida Research Center, Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL. http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/technicalreports.htm. Accessed 10 Oct 2013

  • Zweig CL, Kitchens WM (2010) The Semiglades: the collision of restoration, social values, and the ecosystem concept. Res Ecol 18(2):138–142. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100X.2009.00613.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges historic efforts by the USACE and SFWMD to assess seepage in the study area and who helped spawn ideas for this paper. The author also acknowledges the review by 2 anonymous reviewers who helped to improve the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher J. Brown.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Brown, C.J. An assessment of seepage into the L-31N Canal along Northeast Everglades National Park, Florida, USA. Environ Earth Sci 73, 5747–5759 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3828-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3828-y

Keywords

Navigation